1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle seat wherein a seat back is folded up on a seat cushion, and wherein the seat cushion and the seat back so folded up on the seat cushion are rotated to the rear of a vehicle so as to be stored in a recessed portion provided in a vehicle body floor.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a vehicle seat, for example, a xe2x80x9cseat storing structurexe2x80x9d is known which is disclosed in JP-B-5-40029U.
As shown in FIG. 15, the conventional seat storing structure relates to a vehicle seat 208 wherein a seat back 211 is attached to a seat cushion 210 in such a manner as to be folded up on the seat cushion via a pivot shaft 215, and wherein a front part of the seat cushion 210 is detachably attached to a floor 202 via a support portion 218 whereas a rear part of the seat cushion 210 is rotatably attached to the floor 202 via a pivot shaft 217. The seat back 211 is folded up on the seat cushion 210, and the seat cushion 210 and the seat back 211 so folded up on the seat cushion 210 are rotated to the rear of a vehicle so that the seat cushion 210 and the seat back 211 can be stored in a recessed portion 209 formed in the floor 202.
According to the seat storing structure described above, however, in a state where the seat cushion 210 and the seat back 211 are stored in the recessed portion 209 in the floor 202 after the seat back 211 is folded up on the seat cushion 210 and then the seat cushion 210 and the seat back 211 folded up on the seat cushion 210 are rotated to the rear of the vehicle, the support portion 218 is left projecting upwardly at right angles.
Then, time and labor are required to collapse the perpendicularly projecting support portion 218, this complicating the series of operations of folding up the seat, rotating the seat so folded up and storing the same.
Namely, a technique is desired for improving the seat arrangement for more convenience while making the storage of the seat easier.
For example, in a case where a vertically long article such as a garden plant is loaded on a vehicle, it is convenient to store it by making use of a recessed portion 209 behind the seat back 211 without folding up the seat back 211, and in a case where a horizontally long box-like article is loaded on the vehicle, it is sometimes convenient to store it with the seat back 211 being folded up.
With the seat storing structure, however, since only available seat arrangements are a seating condition where the seat back 211 is erected from the seat cushion 210, a folded condition where the seat back 211 is folded up on the seat cushion 210 and a stored condition where the seat cushion 210 and the seat back 211 are stored in the recessed portion 209, the seat storing structure is sometimes felt to be inconvenient when, for example, the vertically long article such as a garden plant and the horizontally long box-like article are tried to be loaded on the vehicle at the same time, the versatility in seat arrangements being thereby desired.
An object of the invention is to provide a vehicle seat which can provide the required versatility in seat arrangements and improve the convenience in seat arrangements, as well as the storing properties of the seat.
With a view to attaining the object, according to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a vehicle seat, including:
left and right seat cushions;
left and right seat backs attached to the left and right seat cushions, respectively, in such a manner as to be folded up thereon,
a support shaft provided on the left and right seat cushions for allowing the left and right seat cushions and the left and right seat backs folded up on the left and right seat cushions to be rotated toward the rear of a vehicle individually, wherein the seat cushions and the seat backs so rotated about the support shaft are storable in a recessed portion in a vehicle body floor,
wherein the support shaft is provided in such a manner as to be situated in the vicinity of the surface of the vehicle body floor or within the recessed portion so that the support shaft is supported in the vicinity of edge portions of the recessed portion.
According to the construction wherein the left and right seat backs are attached, respectively, to the left and right seat cushions in such a manner as to be folded up on the left and right seat cushions, respectively, and wherein the seat cushions and the seat backs so folded up on the seat cushions are rotated individually to the rear of the vehicle so that the seat cushions and the seat backs can be stored in the recessed portion in the vehicle body floor, for example, by storing one of the left and right seat cushions and seat backs in the recessed portion and folding up the other of the seat backs on the other of the seat cushions a vertically long article such as a garden plant is loaded on the vehicle by making use of the recessed portion and a horizontally long box-like article is loaded on the seat back so folded up or on the seat cushion stored in the recessed portion. Namely, the vertically long article such as a garden plant and the horizontally long box-like article can be loaded at the same time, and a variety of seat arrangements can be realized depending upon the types of articles.
In addition, the support shaft which is provided to be supported in the vicinity of the surface of the vehicle body floor or within the recessed portion constitutes no hindrance to the loading and unloading of articles. As a result, the working efficiency with which articles are loaded and unloaded can be improved. In addition, since the support shaft is supported in the vicinity of the edge portions of the recessed portion, the rigidity of the edge portion allows the left and right seat cushions to be supported at central positions of the recessed portion.
According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a vehicle seat as set forth in the first aspect of the invention, wherein inner tubes of bearings are fitted on the support shaft, and wherein outer tubes of the bearings are fixed to the left and right seat cushions via holding members, whereby end portions of the support shaft are fixed to sides of the surface of the vehicle body floor or sides of the recessed portion.
In general, central portions of the vehicle body surface or central portions of the recessed portion are low in rigidity when compared with end portions thereof. In case the support shaft is fixed to the portions which are low in rigidity, reinforcements are sometimes required, leading to a call for an increase in weight of the vehicle body. To cope with this, fixing the support shaft to the sides of the vehicle body floor surface or the sides of the recessed portion, for example, to the side frames which are higher in rigidity at the end portions thereof can manage to omit reinforcements, thereby making it possible to reduce weight of the vehicle.
According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a vehicle seat including:
a seat cushion;
a seat back folded up on the seat cushion, wherein the seat cushion and the seat back so folded up on the seat cushion are rotated toward the rear of a vehicle so that the seat cushion and the seat back so rotated are stored in a recessed portion provided in a vehicle body floor;
a supporting member (a lock member adapted to be fixed to a striker on the vehicle body floor or a support member adapted to be struck against the vehicle body floor) suspended from a lower surface of a front part of the seat cushion in such a manner as to freely swing back and forth;
a bracket of the vehicle body floor for rotatably attaching a rear part of the seat cushion; and
a connecting member (a link or a cable) connecting the bracket with the support member so that the support member is allowed to fall down into the lower surface of the seat cushion when the seat cushion is rotated rearward.
It will be preferred that the perpendicularly projecting lock member or support member can be collapsed when the seat cushion and the seat back folded up on the seat cushion are rotated toward the rear of the vehicle so that the seat cushion and the seat back are stored in the recessed portion provided in the vehicle body floor.
To make this happen, the bracket for rotatably supporting the rear part of the seat cushion and the lock member are linked together by means of the link or cable so that the lock member is allowed to fall down into the lower surface of the seat cushion when the seat cushion is rotated rearward. Namely, the posture of the lock member or the support member can automatically be altered from the projecting condition to a collapsed condition, whereby the seat cushion and the seat back which are folded up into the vehicle body floor can be stored with good appearance, and the storing properties of the seat can be improved.
According to a fourth aspect of the invention, there is provided a vehicle seat as set forth in the third aspect of the invention, wherein a storage portion for storing the lock member is formed in the lower surface of the seat cushion so that the lock member can be stored in the storage portion when the seat cushion is rotated rearward.
By constructing the vehicle seat such that the storage portion for storing the lock member is formed in the lower surface of the seat cushion so that the lock member can be stored in the storage portion when the seat cushion is rotated rearward, the lock member can be stored in the storage portion when the seat cushion and the seat back are stored in the recessed portion. As a result, the lower surface of the seat cushion can constitute a flat surface when the seat cushion is stored in the recessed portion.
According to a fifth aspect of the invention, there is provided a vehicle seat as set forth in the third aspect of the invention, wherein the bracket extends rearward from a front wall surface of the recessed portion, and wherein retaining members for retaining the seat cushion are provided on left and right wall surfaces of the recessed portion.
By constructing the vehicle seat such that the bracket extends rearward from the front wall surface of the recessed portion and the retaining members for retaining the seat cushion are provided in the left and right wall surfaces of the recessed portion, the bracket and the retaining members are prevented from protruding from the vehicle body floor surface. As a result, the vehicle body floor with the vehicle seat being stored therein can be used effectively.
According to a sixth aspect of the invention, there is provided a vehicle seat as set forth in the third aspect of the invention, wherein the seat cushion and the seat back are divided transversely so that the seat cushions and the seat backs so divided can be stored in the recessed portion individually.
The convenience in arranging the seat can be attempted to be improved by dividing the seat cushion and the seat back transversely so that the seat cushions and the seat backs so divided can be stored in the recessed portion individually.